Systems and methods for automatic subscription-based ordering of product components

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are disclosed herein for automatic subscription-based ordering of product components. During display of media content, the system receives a voice input and determines that the voice input indicates interest in a product. The system identifies the components required to create the product and identifies a subscription to an automated shopping service. Upon identifying the subscription, the system determines whether required components are available via the automated shopping service. Further, the system excludes components that were previously purchased via the automated shopping service, and the system automatically places an order through the automated shopping service for the remaining components.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure is directed to techniques for computer-basedautomatic product ordering. In particular, techniques are described forimproved automatic subscription-based ordering of product components.

SUMMARY

One approach for subscription-based product ordering includes passivelymonitoring a user to determine when the user is interested in a product.For example, a user may utter a noise (e.g., “wow”) when he sees aproduct on in a video on his tablet. Under this approach, the productcan be recommended for ordering via the subscription service. However,this approach will fail if the desired product is unavailable forordering via the subscription service.

Accordingly, systems and methods are disclosed for automaticsubscription-based ordering of product components. During display ofmedia content, the system receives a voice input and determines that thevoice input indicates interest in a product. The system identifies thecomponents required to create the product and identifies a subscriptionto an automated shopping service. Upon identifying the subscription, thesystem determines whether required components are available via theautomated shopping service. Further, the system excludes components thatwere previously purchased via the automated shopping service, and thesystem automatically places an order through the automated shoppingservice for the remaining components.

A number of techniques for modifying the components to exclude acomponent from the order are also disclosed. For example, the system maydetermine a component was previously purchased within a recent timeperiod, and consequently that component is excluded. In anotherdisclosed approach, the system determines that a component required tocreate the product is unavailable for purchase and, using the automatedshopping service, identifies a substitute component. The system mayfurther identify potential substitute components that are similar inprice and specification to the component that is unavailable.

Various techniques for further analyzing the received voice input aredisclosed. For example, the system may identify a time period of whenthe voice input was received. The system may then determine that thevoice input indicates interest in a product during the that time period.In another example, the system determines whether the voice inputmatches a voice signature of a user. If so, the system determines aparticular automated shopping service to which that user is subscribed.Upon determining the particular automated shopping service, the systemorders the components for the user.

These systems and methods provide solutions in instances where thedesired product is unavailable, and in instances when the user wouldprefer to create the desired product from its components. Efficiency isenhanced for subscription-based ordering as users are not required tomanually identify and actively participate in the ordering process. Theautomated ordering process is further streamlined as the user need notbe aware of their inventory of supplies required to create a number ofpotential desirable products, as these systems and methods automaticallydetermine recent purchase history to effectively only order the requiredcomponents for the desired product. The provided systems and methodsfurther function to reduce redundant purchases of product components byautomatically placing an order through the automated shopping servicefor only the components for which the user has not recently purchased.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The below and other objects and advantages of the disclosure will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative diagram of a voice command being receivedand analyzed by a product ordering server to automatically place anorder in an automated shopping service for the missing components of adisplayed product, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 2 shows an illustrative system diagram of the product orderingserver, associative data structure, multiple devices, and automatedshopping service in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 3A shows an illustrative block diagram of the product orderingserver, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 3B shows an illustrative block diagram of an exemplary device, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 4 is an illustrative flowchart of a process for automaticsubscription-based ordering of product components, in accordance withsome embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 is an illustrative flowchart of a process for modifying theplurality of components to exclude a component that was previouslypurchased via the subscription to the automated shopping service, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 is an illustrative flowchart of a process for determining that aparticular subscription to the automated shopping service is availableto purchase the plurality of components required to create the displayedproduct, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure; and

FIG. 7 is an illustrative flowchart of a process for identifying asubscription to an automated shopping service, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative diagram 100 of a voice command beingreceived and analyzed by a product ordering server to automaticallyplace an order in an automated shopping service for the missingcomponents of a displayed product, in accordance with some embodimentsof the disclosure. As an illustrative example, in section (1) of FIG. 1,a user is viewing a cooking show on television 102. This particularcooking show is preparing pesto linguini. A picture of the dish appearson the show, as well as the chef stating “Our Pesto Linguini is done!”The user, seeing and hearing this, remarks “Yummy!” 104 which isreceived by the user's smartphone 106 via microphone at the approximatetime of the dish being displayed and the chef's statement being made. Inthis instance the smartphone may be connected to a cloud server thatfunctions as the product ordering server. The product ordering serverthen determines that the voice input (e.g., “Yummy!”) comprises anindication of interest in a displayed product in the media content,namely the pesto linguini. A voice input may be any type of vocal outputfrom a user. The media content may be played on any type of devicewhether it be audio, video, audio and video, virtual reality, augmentedreality, or other similar type of media.

Some techniques of determining the indication of interest includematching the voice input as a keyword to an associative data structureof keywords which are deemed to represent an indication of interest. Insuch techniques, the voice input may use parsing techniques to extractone or more keywords from the voice input for keyword analysis and/orother related analyses. In some variants of the system, the voice inputcomprising the indication of interest includes an excited utterance oran instruction to purchase the plurality of components required tocreate the displayed product. For example, an excited utterance may be alexical or non-lexical utterance, an interjection, or any other type ofexcited vocal output which expresses interest for the displayed product.

Other techniques for determining the indication of interest provide foranalysis of the inflections of the voice input. Patterns of inflectionsmay be associated with positive expressions which are equated to anindication of interest. For example, a voice inflection that matches aspecific pattern of an acoustic profile (e.g., match through pitch,frequency, or similar metrics) may be deemed an indication of interest.The acoustic profiles may be stored in an associative data structure.Voice comparison analysis techniques may be implemented to compare thereceived voice input of the user to acoustic profiles to determine adegree of similarity. If a threshold degree of similarity is met, thevoice input would be associated with the acoustic profile and thecorresponding indication/non-indication of interest.

In other embodiments, monitoring of passive inputs of the user may beused to determine the indication of interest, or be used in conjunctionwith the voice input to determine the indication of interest. Forexample, monitoring passive inputs of the user may include image/videomonitoring of facial expressions of the user in reaction to specificdisplayed products shown on media content. Specific facial expressionsmay be associated with an indication of interest. The associationsbetween facial expressions and indications of interest may be stored inan associative data structure. As an illustrative example, a case mayarise where passive inputs of the user show that the user raised theireyebrows while stating “Yummy!” and the acoustic profile of this voiceinput does not meet the threshold for matching the acoustic profile torender an indication of interest. However, the level of similarity foundin the acoustic profile in addition to the raised eyebrows, which aredeemed an indication of interest, would render a determination that theuser has expressed an indication of interest.

In other variants of the system, the monitoring of passive inputs by theproduct ordering server includes monitoring biometric inputs of theuser. For example, a user may be wearing a biometric network-connecteddevice (e.g., a wearable device such as a smart-watch), which monitorsthe heartrate of the user. This information may be used to determine anindication of interest, or be used in conjunction with the voice inputto determine the indication of interest. The biometric profile received(e.g., heartrate) may be associated with a biometric profile whichsuggests an indication of interest. These biometric profiles may bestored in the associative data structure.

The indication of interest is in relation to a displayed product. Theproduct ordering server identifies which object within the media contentis the displayed product. In one approach, the system retrieves metadataassociated with the media content and selects the relevant item from themetadata as the displayed product based on the indication of interest,the time stamp of the indication of interest corresponding to the mediacontent, and other factors. Metadata may include tags associated withthe media content, closed-captioning information, crowd-sourcedinformation regarding the media content, time-based metadata from thecontent source or a third-party source, and similar mediacontent-related information. In some embodiments, the product orderingserver may retrieve a user profile to further incorporate information toselect the item that is most likely of interest to the user.

In section (2) of FIG. 1, the product ordering server identifies whichcomponents are required to create the displayed product. The productordering server may transmit the displayed product information to anassociative data structure which provides the corresponding componentsrequired to create the displayed product. The associative data structuremay contain recipes, building instructions, blueprints, engineeringdrawings, chemical compositions, or how-to-guides for creating,assembling, or deriving specific products. In the current example, theproduct ordering server sends “pesto linguini” to the associative datastructure which returns the following ingredients required to cook thedish: linguini 108, pesto 110, and tomatoes 112.

After determining the components required for creation of the displayedproduct, the product ordering server identifies a subscription to anautomated shopping service. Various techniques disclosed herein may beimplemented to identify the automated shopping service. In someembodiments, the product ordering server may determine whether the voiceinput matches a voice signature of a user. If so, the product orderingserver determines which particular subscription service the user issubscribed to. After finding a match, the product ordering serveridentifies the particular subscription service as the automated shoppingservice to be used for automated ordering. In the current example, theserver recognizes the user's voice and associates the user with aparticular automated shopping service. In another approach, the productordering server may more simply retrieve a user profile and determine ifany subscription services for automated shopping services are associatedwith this particular user account.

The product ordering server determines that the subscription to theautomated shopping service is available to purchase the componentsrequired to create the displayed product. The server transmitsinformation related to the required components to the subscription todetermine whether the components are available from the automatedshopping service. The product ordering server then modifies thecomponents to exclude a component that was previously purchased via thesubscription. Returning to the current example, the linguini 108 hadbeen previously purchased, while both pesto 110 and tomatoes 112 had notbeen recently purchased. Thus, the order to the subscription is modifiedto exclude the linguini as the user already has the linguini required tocreate pesto linguini. In some embodiments, a predetermined time may beutilized by the product ordering server to determine whether the producthad been purchased recently where the predetermined time varies based onthe specific component. For example, a predetermined time for previouslypurchased tomatoes may be two weeks, while the predetermined time forpreviously purchased linguini may be two months.

The product ordering server, after determining the modified components,places an order via the subscription without receiving additional input.In section (3) of FIG. 1, the orders for pesto and tomatoes areautomatically added to the electronic shopping cart 114 without the userhaving to manually add the components into the smartphone or otherelectronic device. In some embodiments, the product ordering serverretrieves a delivery address associated with the subscription from adata structure (e.g., the associative data structure), a user profile,or from location-based information. In section (4) of FIG. 1, the orderfor pesto and tomatoes are automatically delivered in a box 116 to theuser's home address. The product ordering server may transmit anotification to a user account of the subscription confirming deliveryof the components to the delivery address. In the current example, theuser may receive an instant message on their smartphone regarding theautomatic delivery at their address when the components of the displayedproduct arrive.

In some instances when using the proposed system, one of the requiredcomponents for the displayed product may be unavailable. Upon adetermination of this component being unavailable, a substitutecomponent is identified for order. Numerous methods disclosed herein maybe used to select the substitute component for order. For example, thesubstitute component may be one that has a similar price and/or similarspecification to the component which is unavailable. In anotherapproach, the substitute component may be provided from a data structureusing one or more factors including, but not limited to, similarity ofproduct, similarity of brand, crowd-sourced information regardingsimilarity of product, previous user buying history, and products withsimilar sub-components.

FIG. 2 shows an illustrative system diagram 200 of the product orderingserver, associative data structure, multiple devices, and automatedshopping service, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.The product ordering server 202 may be any hardware that provides forthe functionality of the disclosed techniques for automaticsubscription-based ordering of product components. The product orderingserver may be communicatively coupled to multiple devices (e.g., device1 (206), device 2 (208), device 3 (210), device n (212)). The productordering server may be communicatively coupled to an associative datastructure 204. The product ordering server may also be communicativelycoupled to one or more automated shopping services. In some embodiments,the product ordering server is communicatively coupled to a productinformation data structure. A further detailed disclosure on the productordering server can be seen in FIG. 3A which shows an illustrative blockdiagram of the product ordering server, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure.

In some embodiments, the product ordering server may be embedded withina device having shared hardware of the device. For example, the productordering server may be part of a personal computer, smartphone, tablet,wearable technology product or other electronic device within a homenetwork. In other approaches, the product ordering server may be remotefrom the home network where the server resides in a cloud configuration,receiving information from multiple devices from a home, work, or otherremote network. In yet another approach, the product ordering server maybe within one of the devices, 206, 208, 210, or 212. A further detaileddisclosure on the product ordering server can be seen in FIG. 3B whichshows an illustrative block diagram of the product ordering server, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Any of the systemmodules (e.g., product ordering server, associative data structure,devices, and/or automated shopping services) may be any combination ofshared or disparate hardware pieces that are communicatively coupled.

The devices (e.g., device 1 (206), device 2 (208), device 3 (210),and/or device n (212)) may be any device that may receive voice input.For example, the device may be any personal computer, smartphone,tablet, electronic assistant, smart-home appliance, television, wearabletechnology product, a variety of consumer electronics, industrialequipment, security system, digital twin system, and/or similar system.The voice input may be detected by microphone, vocal input technology,or other similar technology and sent to the product ordering serverthrough a communication means (e.g., network connection, Bluetooth,hardwire, electric wire, phone cable, or any other communicative means).The devices may also provide biometric data to the product orderingserver (e.g., providing heart rate, breathing rate, sweat analysis,fluid analysis, and other biometric analysis). The devices may alsoinclude audio and video capabilities to record passive movements of theuser.

The associative data structure 204 may be any database, server, orcomputing device that contains memory for storing entries to associateany relevant modelling information to the vocal input. For example, theassociative data structure may store acoustic profiles of one or moreusers, product descriptions, substitute product equivalents, userprofile information, user subscription to automated shopping serviceinformation, and other types of information. The associative datastructure may be remote from the product ordering server, or,alternatively, may be part of the hardware of the product orderingserver.

The automated shopping service 214 may be any electronic service thatprovides e-commerce services. For example, the automated shoppingservices may provide a marketplace to purchase meals and ingredients formeals. The automated shopping services may be communicatively coupled tothe product ordering server to interface with the server (e.g., bynetwork connection, Bluetooth, hardwire, electric wire, phone cable, orany other communicative means). In some embodiments, the productordering server interfaces with the one or more automated shoppingservices using a specific subscription of the respective automatedshopping service.

FIG. 3A shows an illustrative block diagram 300 of the product orderingserver 202, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Insome embodiments, the product ordering server may be communicativelyconnected to a user interface. In some embodiments, the product orderingserver may include processing circuitry, control circuitry, and storage(e.g., RAM, ROM, hard disk, removable disk, etc.). The product orderingserver may include an input/output path 306. I/O path 306 may providedevice information or other data over a local area network (LAN) or widearea network (WAN), and/or other content and data to control circuitry304, which includes processing circuitry 308 and storage 310. Controlcircuitry 304 may be used to send and receive commands, requests, andother suitable data using I/O path 306. I/O path 306 may connect controlcircuitry 304 (and specifically processing circuitry 308) to one or morecommunications paths.

Control circuitry 304 may be based on any suitable processing circuitry,such as processing circuitry 308. As referred to herein, processingcircuitry should be understood to mean circuitry based on one or moremicroprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors,programmable logic devices, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc., and may includea multi-core processor (e.g., dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core, or anysuitable number of cores) or supercomputer. In some embodiments,processing circuitry may be distributed across multiple separateprocessors or processing units, for example, multiple of the same typeof processing units (e.g., two Intel Core i7 processors) or multipledifferent processors (e.g., an Intel Core i5 processor and an Intel Corei7 processor). In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 executesinstructions for a product ordering server stored in memory (e.g.,storage 310).

Memory may be an electronic storage device provided as storage 310 whichis part of control circuitry 304. As referred to herein, the phrase“electronic storage device” or “storage device” should be understood tomean any device for storing electronic data, computer software, orfirmware, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, hard drives,solid state devices, quantum storage devices, or any other suitablefixed or removable storage devices, and/or any combination of the same.Nonvolatile memory may also be used (e.g., to launch a boot-up routineand other instructions).

The product ordering server 302 may be coupled to a communicationsnetwork. Communications network may be one or more networks includingthe Internet, a mobile phone network, mobile voice or data network(e.g., a 5G, 4G or LTE network), mesh network, peer-2-peer network,cable network, or other types of communications network or combinationsof communications networks. Paths may separately or together include oneor more communications paths, such as, a satellite path, a fiber-opticpath, a cable path, a path that supports Internet communications,free-space connections (e.g., for broadcast or other wireless signals),or any other suitable wired or wireless communications path orcombination of such paths.

FIG. 3B, similar to FIG. 3A, shows an illustrative block diagram 301 ofthe device n 212, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.In some embodiments, the device n may perform the operations of theproduct ordering server and may be communicatively connected to a userinterface. In similar schema to FIG. 3A, device n includes processingcircuitry 308, control circuitry 304, and storage 310 (e.g., RAM, ROM,hard disk, removable disk, etc.) and an I/O path 306.

FIG. 4 is an illustrative flowchart of a process for automaticsubscription-based ordering of product components, in accordance withsome embodiments of the disclosure. Process 400, and any of thefollowing processes, may be executed by control circuitry 304 (e.g., ina manner instructed to control circuitry 304 by the product orderingserver). Control circuitry 304 may be part of product ordering server202, or of a remote server separated from the product ordering server byway of a communications network, or distributed over a combination ofboth.

At 402, the product ordering server, by control circuitry 304, receivesa voice input while displaying media content. The product orderingserver may receive the voice input through the I/O path 306, which maybe coupled to another device, microphone, or an audio sensor to detectand receive the voice input. At 404, the product ordering server, bycontrol circuitry 304, determines that the voice input comprises anindication of interest in a displayed product in the media content. Insome embodiments, the product ordering server may interface with one ormore devices through the I/O path 306 to receive passive inputs of theuser in addition to the voice input. At 406, the product orderingserver, by control circuitry 304, identifies a plurality of componentsrequired to create the displayed product. The product ordering servermay retrieve information (e.g., metadata regarding the desired product)from the associative data structure 204 through the I/O path 306 to aidin identification of the plurality of components required to create thedisplayed product. At 408, the product ordering server, by controlcircuitry 304, identifies a subscription to an automated shoppingservice. The product ordering server may retrieve information (e.g.,user profile information) from the associative data structure 204through the I/O path 306 to aid in identification of the subscription toan automated shopping service. If, at 410, control circuitry 304determines “No,” a subscription to an automated shopping service couldnot be identified, the process continues to 411. At 411, the productordering server, by control circuitry 304, transmits the electronicnotification to indicate no subscription to an online shopping serviceidentified and the process advances to End.

If, at 410, control circuitry determines “Yes,” a subscription to anautomated shopping service is identified, the process advances to 412.At 412, the product ordering server, by control circuitry 304,determines the subscription is available to purchase the plurality ofcomponents required to create the displayed product. The productordering server may utilize I/O path 306 to interface with theassociative data structure 204 or a subscription-based interface todetermine if the subscription is available to purchase the plurality ofcomponents required to create the displayed product.

At 414, the product ordering server, by control circuitry 304, modifiesthe plurality of components to exclude a component that was previouslypurchased via the subscription. In some embodiments, processingcircuitry 308 may be utilized to modify the plurality of components toexclude a component that was previously purchased via the subscription.

At 416, the product ordering server, by control circuitry 304,automatically places an order for the modified plurality of componentsvia the subscription without receiving additional input. In someembodiments, at 418, the product ordering server, by control circuitry304, retrieves a delivery address associated with the subscription tothe automated shopping service from a data structure. In someembodiments, the product ordering server, utilizes the I/O path 306 toreceive the delivery address from the associative data structure 204 ora device 212 (e.g., device n). At 420, the product ordering server, bycontrol circuitry 304, automatically transits instructions to a deliveryservice to deliver the modified plurality of components to the retrieveddelivery address.

FIG. 5 is an illustrative flowchart of a process 500 for modifying theplurality of components to exclude a component that was previouslypurchased via the subscription to the automated shopping service, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. At 502, the productordering server, by control circuitry 304, determines whether thecomponent that was previously purchased was purchased within a recenttime period. In some embodiments, the product ordering server receivesinformation of previous purchases from the associative data structure204 through the I/O path 306. If, at 504, control circuitry 304determines “No,” the component that was previously purchased was notpurchased within a recent time period, the process continues to 506. At506, the product ordering server, by control circuitry 304, does notexclude the component that was previously purchased and advances toprevious detailed step 416.

If, at 504, control circuitry determines “Yes,” the component that waspreviously purchased was purchased within a recent time period, theprocess continues to 508. At 508, the product ordering server, bycontrol circuitry 304, excludes the component that was previouslypurchased.

FIG. 6 is an illustrative flowchart of a process 600 for determiningthat a particular subscription to the automated shopping service isavailable to purchase the plurality of components required to create thedisplayed product, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure. At 602, the product ordering server, by control circuitry304, determines if a component of the plurality of components requiredto create the displayed product is unavailable for purchase using theautomated shopping service. In some embodiments, the product orderingserver retrieves information from a subscription to an automatedshopping service 214 through an I/O path 306 regarding the inventory ofthe required components. If, at 604, control circuitry 304 determines“No,” a component of the plurality of components required to create thedisplayed product is available for purchase using the automated shoppingservice, the process advances to End.

If, at 604, control circuitry 304 determines “Yes,” a component of theplurality of components required to create the displayed product isunavailable for purchase using the automated shopping service, theprocess advances to 608. At 608, the product ordering server, by controlcircuitry 304, identifies a substitute component for purchase. In someembodiments, the product ordering server retrieves information regardingsubstitute components from a subscription to an automated shoppingservice 214 through an I/O path 306. In some embodiments, at 610, theproduct ordering server, by control circuitry 304, determines thesubstitute component has a price that is similar to the price of thecomponent unavailable for purchase. At 612, the product ordering server,by control circuitry 304, determines if the substitute component hassimilar specifications to specifications of the component unavailablefor purchase. If, at 614, control circuitry 304 determines “No,” asimilar specification to the specification of the component unavailablefor purchase and the similar price to price of the component unavailablefor purchase is not met, then the process advances to End. However, if,at 614, control circuitry 304 determines “Yes,” a similar specificationto specification of the component unavailable for purchase and thesimilar price to price of the component unavailable for purchase is met,then the process advances to 616. At 616, the product ordering server,by control circuitry 304, identifies the substitute component forpurchase.

FIG. 7 is an illustrative flowchart of a process 700 for identifying asubscription to an automated shopping service, in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure. At 702, the product ordering server, bycontrol circuitry 304, determines whether the voice input matches avoice signature of a user. In some embodiments, the product orderingserver retrieves an acoustic profile of user voice signatures from anassociative data structure 204 through the I/O path 306. If, at 704,control circuitry 304 determines “No,” the voice input does not matchthe voice signature of the user, then the process advances to End.

If, at 704, control circuitry determines “Yes,” the voice input matchesthe voice signature of the user, then the process continues to 706. At706, the product ordering server, by control circuitry 304, determineswhether the user is subscribed to the subscription to the automatedshopping service. In some embodiments, the product ordering serverretrieves information regarding user subscription from an automatedshopping service 214 through an I/O path 306. If, at 708, controlcircuitry 304 determines “No,” the user is not subscribed to thesubscription to the automated shopping service, then the processcontinues to step 710. At 710, the product ordering server, by controlcircuitry 304, determines that the user is subscribed to an alternateautomated shopping service and the process reverts to step 706.

If, at 708, control circuitry 304 determines “Yes,” the user issubscribed to the subscription to the automated shopping service, thenthe process continues to step 712. At 712, the product ordering server,by control circuitry 304, identifies the determined subscription to bethe automated shopping service.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIGS. 4-7 may beused with any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, thesteps and descriptions described in relation to FIGS. 4-7 may be done inalternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes of thisdisclosure. For example, each of these steps may be performed in anyorder or in parallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag orincrease the speed of the system or method. Any of these steps may alsobe skipped or omitted from the process. Furthermore, it should be notedthat any of the devices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 2,3A, and 3B could be used to perform one or more of the steps in FIGS.4-7.

The processes discussed above are intended to be illustrative and notlimiting. One skilled in the art would appreciate that the steps of theprocesses discussed herein may be omitted, modified, combined, and/orrearranged, and any additional steps may be performed without departingfrom the scope of the invention. More generally, the above disclosure ismeant to be exemplary and not limiting. Only the claims that follow aremeant to set bounds as to what the present invention includes.Furthermore, it should be noted that the features and limitationsdescribed in any one embodiment may be applied to any other embodimentherein, and flowcharts or examples relating to one embodiment may becombined with any other embodiment in a suitable manner, done indifferent orders, or done in parallel. In addition, the systems andmethods described herein may be performed in real time. It should alsobe noted that the systems and/or methods described above may be appliedto, or used in accordance with, other systems and/or methods.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for automatic subscription-basedordering of product components, the method comprising: receiving, usinga microphone, a voice input during displaying of media content; tagging,using a control circuitry, the voice input with a timestamp indicativeof the time period when the voice input was received; identifying a timeperiod based on the timestamp of the voice input; determining, using thecontrol circuitry, that the voice input comprises an indication ofinterest in a displayed product in the media content, by: querying aserver for metadata of the media content that was determined to begenerated for display when the voice input was received; determining,based on the metadata of the media content received from the server thatthe product was displayed during the identified time period;identifying, using the control circuitry, a plurality of componentsrequired to create the displayed product; identifying, using the controlcircuitry, a subscription to an automated shopping service; and inresponse to the identifying the subscription to the automated shoppingservice: determining, using the control circuitry, that the subscriptionto the automated shopping service is available to purchase the pluralityof components required to create the displayed product; modifying, usingthe control circuitry, the plurality of components to exclude acomponent that was previously purchased via the subscription to theautomated shopping service; and automatically, using the controlcircuitry, placing an order for the modified plurality of components viathe subscription to the automated shopping service without receivingadditional input.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein automaticallyplacing an order for the modified plurality of components via thesubscription to the automated shopping service without receivingadditional input further comprises: retrieving, using the controlcircuitry, a delivery address associated with the subscription to theautomated shopping service from a data structure; and automaticallytransmitting, using the control circuitry, instructions to a deliveryservice to deliver the modified plurality of components to the retrieveddelivery address.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprisingtransmitting, using the control circuitry, an instant message to a useraccount of the subscription to the automated shopping service confirmingdelivery of the modified plurality of components to the deliveryaddress.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein modifying, using the controlcircuitry, the plurality of components to exclude a component that waspreviously purchased via the subscription to the automated shoppingservice comprises: determining, using the control circuitry, whether thecomponent that was previously purchased was purchased within a recenttime period; and in response to the determination that the componentthat was previously purchased was purchased within the recent timeperiod, excluding, using the control circuitry, the component that waspreviously purchased.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining,using the control circuitry, that the subscription to the automatedshopping service is available to purchase the plurality of componentsrequired to create the displayed product further comprises: determining,using the control circuitry, that a component of the plurality ofcomponents required to create the displayed product is unavailable forpurchase using the automated shopping service; and in response to adetermination that the component of the plurality of components requiredto create the displayed product is unavailable for purchase,identifying, using the control circuitry, a substitute component forpurchase.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein identifying, using thecontrol circuitry, the substitute component for purchase comprises:determining, using the control circuitry, the substitute component has aprice that is similar to the price of the component that is unavailablefor purchase of the plurality of components required to create thedisplayed product; determining, using the control circuitry, thesubstitute component has similar specifications to specifications of thecomponent that is unavailable for purchase of the plurality ofcomponents required to create the displayed product; and in response tothe determination that the substitute component has the price that issimilar and has similar specifications, identifying the substitutecomponent for purchase.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying,using the control circuitry, a subscription to an automated shoppingservice comprises: determining, using the control circuitry, whether thevoice input matches a voice signature of a user; in response to thedetermination that the voice input matches the voice signature of theuser, determining, using the control circuitry, whether the user issubscribed to the subscription to the automated shopping service.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the voice input comprising the indication ofinterest in the displayed product comprises an excited utterance or aninstruction to purchase the plurality of components required to createthe displayed product.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying,using the control circuitry, a plurality of components required tocreate the displayed product comprises: retrieving, using the controlcircuitry, metadata of the displayed product in the media content; andidentifying, using the control circuitry, the plurality of componentsbased on the metadata of the displayed product.
 10. A system forautomatic subscription-based ordering of product components, comprising:control circuitry configured to: receive, using a microphone, a voiceinput during displaying of media content; tag the voice input with atimestamp indicative of the time period when the voice input wasreceived; identify a time period based on the timestamp of the voiceinput; determine that the voice input comprises an indication ofinterest in a displayed product in the media content, by: querying aserver for metadata of the media content that was determined to begenerated for display when the voice input was received; determining,based on the metadata of the media content received from the server thatthe product was displayed during the identified time period; identify aplurality of components required to create the displayed product;identify a subscription to an automated shopping service; and inresponse to the identifying the subscription to the automated shoppingservice: determine that the subscription to the automated shoppingservice is available to purchase the plurality of components required tocreate the displayed product; modify the plurality of components toexclude a component that was previously purchased via the subscriptionto the automated shopping service; and automatically place an order forthe modified plurality of components via the subscription to theautomated shopping service without receiving additional input.
 11. Thesystem of claim 10, wherein the control circuitry is further configured,when automatically placing an order for the modified plurality ofcomponents via the subscription to the automated shopping servicewithout receiving additional input, to: retrieve a delivery addressassociated with the subscription to the automated shopping service froma data structure; and automatically transmit instructions to a deliveryservice to deliver the modified plurality of components to the retrieveddelivery address.
 12. The system of claim 11, further comprisingtransmitting an instant message to a user account of the subscription tothe automated shopping service confirming delivery of the modifiedplurality of components to the delivery address.
 13. The system of claim10, wherein the control circuitry is configured, when modifying theplurality of components to exclude a component that was previouslypurchased via the subscription to the automated shopping service, to:determine whether the component that was previously purchased waspurchased within a recent time period; and in response to thedetermination that the component that was previously purchased waspurchased within the recent time period, exclude the component that waspreviously purchased.
 14. The system of claim 10, wherein the controlcircuitry is further configured, when determining that the subscriptionto the automated shopping service is available to purchase the pluralityof components required to create the displayed product, to: determinethat a component of the plurality of components required to create thedisplayed product is unavailable for purchase using the automatedshopping service; and in response to a determination that the componentof the plurality of components required to create the displayed productis unavailable for purchase, identify a substitute component forpurchase.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein control circuitry isconfigured, when identifying the substitute component for purchase, to:determine the substitute component has a price that is similar to theprice of the component that is unavailable for purchase of the pluralityof components required to create the displayed product; determine thesubstitute component has similar specifications to specifications of thecomponent that is unavailable for purchase of the plurality ofcomponents required to create the displayed product is unavailable forpurchase; and in response to the determination that the substitutecomponent has the price that is similar and has similar specifications,identify the substitute component for purchase.
 16. The system of claim10, wherein control circuitry is configured, when identifying asubscription to an automated shopping service, to: determine whether thevoice input matches a voice signature of a user; in response to thedetermination that the voice input matches the voice signature of theuser, determine whether the user is subscribed to the automated shoppingservice.
 17. The system of claim 10, wherein the voice input comprisingthe indication of interest in the displayed product comprises an excitedutterance or an instruction to purchase the plurality of componentsrequired to create the displayed product.
 18. The system of claim 10,wherein control circuitry is configured, when identifying a plurality ofcomponents required to create the displayed product, to: retrievemetadata of the displayed product in the media content; and identify theplurality of components based on the metadata of the displayed product.19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructionsencoded thereon that when executed by control circuitry causes thecontrol circuitry to: receive, using a microphone, a voice input duringdisplaying of media content; tag the voice input with a timestampindicative of the time period when the voice input was received;determine that the voice input comprises an indication of interest in adisplayed product in the media content, by: querying a server formetadata of the media content that was determined to be generated fordisplay when the voice input was received; determining, based on themetadata of the media content received from the server that the productwas displayed during the identified time period; identify a plurality ofcomponents required to create the displayed product; identify asubscription to an automated shopping service; and in response to theidentifying the subscription to the automated shopping service:determine that the subscription to the automated shopping service isavailable to purchase the plurality of components required to create thedisplayed product; modify the plurality of components to exclude acomponent that was previously purchased via the subscription to theautomated shopping service; and automatically place an order for themodified plurality of components via the subscription to the automatedshopping service without receiving additional input.
 20. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein, whenautomatically placing an order for the modified plurality of componentsvia the subscription to the automated shopping service without receivingadditional input, the instructions cause the control circuitry to:retrieve a delivery address associated with the subscription to theautomated shopping service from a data structure; and automaticallytransmit instructions to a delivery service to deliver the modifiedplurality of components to the retrieved delivery address.
 21. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20, further comprisingtransmitting an instant message to a user account of the subscription tothe automated shopping service confirming delivery of the modifiedplurality of components to the delivery address.
 22. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein, when modifying theplurality of components to exclude a component that was previouslypurchased via the subscription to the automated shopping service, theinstructions cause the control circuitry to: determine whether thecomponent that was previously purchased was purchased within a recenttime period; and in response to the determination that the componentthat was previously purchased was purchased within the recent timeperiod, exclude the component that was previously purchased.
 23. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein, whendetermining that the subscription to the automated shopping service isavailable to purchase the plurality of components required to create thedisplayed product, the instructions cause the control circuitry to:determine that a component of the plurality of components required tocreate the displayed product is unavailable for purchase using theautomated shopping service; and in response to a determination that thecomponent of the plurality of components required to create thedisplayed product is unavailable for purchase, identify a substitutecomponent for purchase.
 24. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumof claim 23, wherein, when identifying the substitute component forpurchase, the instructions cause the control circuitry to: determine thesubstitute component has a price that is similar to the price of thecomponent that is unavailable for purchase of the plurality ofcomponents required to create the displayed product; determine thesubstitute component has similar specifications to specifications of thecomponent that is unavailable for purchase of the plurality ofcomponents required to create the displayed product; and in response tothe determination that the substitute component has the price that issimilar and has similar specifications, identify the substitutecomponent for purchase.
 25. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumof claim 19, wherein, when identifying a subscription to an automatedshopping service, the instructions cause the control circuitry to:determine whether the voice input matches a voice signature of a user;in response to the determination that the voice input matches the voicesignature of the user, determine whether the user is subscribed to theautomated shopping service.
 26. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 19, wherein the voice input comprising the indication ofinterest in the displayed product comprises an excited utterance or aninstruction to purchase the plurality of components required to createthe displayed product.
 27. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumof claim 19, wherein, when identifying a plurality of componentsrequired to create the displayed product, the instructions cause thecontrol circuitry to: retrieve metadata of the displayed product in themedia content; and identify the plurality of components based on themetadata of the displayed product.